Evaluating energy harvesting from water distribution networks using combined stakeholder and social network analysis

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record. Data availability: Data will be made available on request.The chance of success in implementing a new project in a water distribution network (WDN) significantly depends on the behaviour of the involved stakeholders. In this paper, the feasibility of installing the micro-turbines in WDNs for generating hydro-power energy is studied from the stakeholders’ perspective. Stakeholders’ analysis (SA) and social network analysis (SNA) are performed to methodically recognise the environment and the relationships among stakeholders. 18 stakeholders at the local, regional, and national levels were identified and their representatives were interviewed. In SA, the power, interest, access to information, and satisfaction from the current condition of the system were evaluated for each stakeholder. The Water and Wastewater Company and Ministry of Energy were found as the stakeholders with the highest power and interest. Unexpectedly, the Regional Electricity Company was discovered with medium power and low access to information. In SNA, cooperative and non-cooperative relationships between stakeholders were analysed and an assessment was made for the role of each stakeholder in their social network, through four centrality metrics. The correlation between SA and SNA results suggests that SA factors could be estimated using the SNA metrics.Iran National Science Foundation (INSF

Evaluation of earth fault location algorithm in medium voltage distribution network with correction technique

This paper focused on studying an algorithm of earth fault location in the medium voltage distribution network. In power system network, most of the earth fault occurs is a single line to ground fault. A medium voltage distribution network with resistance earthing at the main substation and an earth fault attached along the distribution network is modeled in ATP Draw. The generated earth fault is simulated, and the voltage and current signal produced is recorded. The earth fault location algorithm is simulated and tested in MATLAB. The accuracy of the earth fault location algorithm is tested at several locations and fault resistances. A possible correction technique is explained to minimize the error. The results show an improvement fault location distance estimation with minimum error

Efficacy of Tree-Based Models for Pipe Failure Prediction and Condition Assessment: A Comprehensive Review

This is the final version. Available on open access from ASCE via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.This paper provides a comprehensive review of tree-based models and their application in condition assessment and prediction of water, wastewater, and sewer pipe failures. Tree-based models have gained significant attention in recent years due to their effectiveness in capturing complex relationships between parameters of systems and their ability in handling large data sets. This study explores a range of tree-based models, including decision trees and ensemble trees utilizing bagging, boosting, and stacking strategies. The paper thoroughly examines the strengths and limitations of these models, specifically in the context of assessing the pipes’ condition and predicting their failures. In most cases, tree-based algorithms outperformed other prevalent models. Random forest was found to be the most frequently used approach in this field. Moreover, the models successfully predicted the failures when augmented with a richer failure data set. Finally, it was identified that existing evaluation metrics might not be necessarily suitable for assessing the prediction models in the water and sewer networks.Datatecnics Corporation LimitedUKR

Association of microbiota-derived propionic acid and Alzheimer�s disease; bioinformatics analysis

Purpose: Microbiota-derived metabolites could alter the brain tissue toward the neurodegeneration disease. This study aims to select the genes associated with Propionic acid (PPA) and compromise Alzheimer�s disease (AD) to find the possible roles of PPA in AD pathogenesis. Methods: Microbiota-derived metabolites could alter the brain tissue toward the neurodegeneration disease. This study aims to select the genes associated with Propionic acid (PPA) and compromise Alzheimer�s disease (AD) to find the possible roles of PPA in AD pathogenesis. Results: Amongst all genes associated with PPA and AD, 284 genes to be shared by searching databases and were subjected to further analysis. AD-PPA genes mainly involved in cancer, bacterial and virus infection, and neurological and non-neurological diseases. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis covered the most AD hallmark, such as amyloid formation, apoptosis, proliferation, inflammation, and immune system. Network analysis revealed hub and bottleneck genes. MCODE analysis also indicated the seed genes represented in the significant subnetworks. ICAM1 and CCND1 were the hub, bottleneck, and seed genes. Conclusions: PPA interacted genes implicated in AD act through pathways initiate neuronal cell death. In sum up, AD-PPA shared genes exhibited evidence that supports the idea PPA secreted from bacteria could alter brain physiology toward the emerging AD signs. This idea needs to confirm by more future investigation in animal models. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Immunomodulation and Generation of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells by Probiotic Bacteria in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

In inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), the therapeutic benefit and mucosal healing from specific probiotics may relate to the modulation of dendritic cells (DCs). Herein, we assessed the immunomodulatory effects of four probiotic strains including Lactobacillus salivarius, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis natto on the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, cytokine production and gene expression of signal-transducing receptors in DCs from IBD patients. Human monocyte-derived DCs from IBD patients and healthy controls were exposed to four probiotic strains. The expression of co-stimulatory molecules was assessed and supernatants were analyzed for anti-inflammatory cytokines. The gene expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), IL-12p40 and integrin \u3b1v\u3b28 were also analyzed. CD80 and CD86 were induced by most probiotic strains in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients whereas only B. bifidum induced CD80 and CD86 expression in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. IL-10 and TGF-\u3b2 production was increased in a dose-independent manner while TLR expression was decreased by all probiotic bacteria except B. bifidum in DCs from UC patients. TLR-4 and TLR-9 expression was significantly downregulated while integrin f8 was significantly increased in the DCs from CD patients. IL-12p40 expression was only significantly downregulated in DCs from CD patients. Our findings point to the general beneficial effects of probiotics in DC immunomodulation and indicate that probiotic bacteria favorably modulate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, proinflammatory cytokines and TLRs in DCs from IBD patients

Proinflammatory cytokines and thrombomodulin in patients with peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, infected with Helicobacter pylori

Backgrounds: Helicobacter pylori infect more than half of the global population. It is suggested to be related with gastritis, peptic ulcer disease (PUD), and gastric cancer. Aims: The aim of this present study was to evaluate proinflammatory cytokines including interleukin 1, 6, 8, 10, and thrombomodulin in H. pylori-infected patients with PUD and gastric cancer. Patients: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Taleghani Hospital on 111 patients with H. pylori infection. Materials and Methods: Patients were divided into three groups of PUD, cancer, and control (normal on endoscopy), according to the results of endoscopy. The serum levels of interleukins 1, 6, 8, and 10 and thrombomodulin was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by histological examination of the endoscopic biopsy. Results: One hundred eleven patients were included in the study; 30 as PUD group, 30 as gastric cancer group, and 51 as controls. There was no significant difference between the means of IL-1 and IL-10 levels among the three groups (P = 0.744 and 0.383, respectively). IL-6, IL-8, and thrombomodulin levels were found to be statically different among the three groups (P < 0.05). The level of IL-6, IL-8, and thrombomodulin in cancer group was significantly higher than PUD and control groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: There is a significant association between H. pylori infection and serum IL-6, IL-8, and thrombomodulin but such relation is not present between H. pylori and IL-1 and IL-10. Immunity response (IL-6, IL-8 and thrombomodulin) is more severe in cancer patient than PUD

COVID-19-related strokes in adults below 55Â years of age: a case series

Background: Coronavirus infection is a novel respiratory disease affecting people across the world. Although the majority of patients present with fever, dyspnea, cough, or myalgia, various signs and symptoms have been reported for this disease. Recently, neurological symptoms have been noticed in patients with COVID-19 with unknown etiology. However, the occurrence of strokes in young and middle aged patients with COVID-19 is not fully explained. Methods: In this series, six patients younger than 55 years of age with diagnosis of stroke and a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were evaluated for symptoms, lab data, imaging findings, and outcomes from March 2020 to the end of April 2020 from all stroke cases in a tertiary academic hospital. Patients older than 55 and all others who had evidence of cardiac abnormalities (arrhythmia/valvular) were excluded. Results: Fever, myalgia, cough, and dyspnea were the most common clinical symptoms noted in 66.66 (4/6), 66.66 (4/6), 50 (3/6), and 50 (3/6) of the patients, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) for the patient was 10.16 ± 7.13 (ranged 5�24). The most involved area was middle cerebral artery (MCA) (five in MCA versus one in basal ganglia) and the majority of our patients had a low lung involvement score (mean ± SD: 13.16 ± 6.49 out of 24). Finally, one patient was deceased and rest discharged. Conclusion: Stroke may be unrelated to age and the extent of lung involvement. However, different factors may play roles in co-occurrence of stroke and COVID-19 and its outcome. Future studies with long-term follow-up and more cases are needed to assess prognostic factors. © 2020, Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia

Insulin and insulin receptor gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Insulina e polimorfismos do gene do receptor de insulina e a suscetibilidade à doença hepática gordurosa não alcoólica

Background � Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasing global health concern defined by excessive hepatic fat content in the absence of excessive alcohol consumption. Objective � Given the pivotal role of insulin resistance in NAFLD, we hypothesized that insulin (INS) and insulin receptor (INSR) gene polymorphisms may be associated with NAFLD risk. Methods � A total of 312 subjects, including 153 cases with biopsy-proven NAFLD and 159 controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Four polymorphisms in INS (rs3842752, rs689) and INSR (rs1052371, rs1799817) genes were genotyped using PCR-RFLP method. Results � The cases with NAFLD were older and had higher BMI, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, as well as higher serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyl transferase than the controls (P<0.001). The �TT� genotype of INSR rs1799817 compared with �CC� genotype occurred more frequently in the controls than the cases with NAFLD and the difference remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors (P=0.018; OR=0.10, 95CI=0.02�0.76). However, no significant difference was found for INS rs3842752, INS rs689, and INSR rs1052371 gene polymorphisms between the cases with NAFLD and the controls either before or after adjustment for the confounders. Conclusion � These findings corroborate the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms related to insulin resistance play a role in NAFLD susceptibility. Specifically, the INSR rs1799817 �TT� genotype had a protective effect for NAFLD. However, our results remain to be validated in other studies. © 2020, IBEPEGE - Inst. Bras. Estudos Pesquisas Gastroent. All rights reserved

Cholangiocarcinoma in Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography and Fascioliasis in Endoscopic Ultrasonography

Fascioliasis is a worldwide zoonotic infection with Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The zoonoses are particularly endemic in sheep-raising countries and are also endemic in Iran. Typical symptoms that may be associated with fascioliasis can be divided by phases of the disease, including the acute or liver phase, the chronic or biliary phase, and ectopic or pharyngeal fascioliasis. Cholestatic symptoms may be absent, and in some cases diagnosis and treatment may be preceded by a long period of abdominal pain, eosinophilia and vague gastrointestinal symptoms. We report a case with epigastric and upper quadrant abdominal pain for the last 4 years, with imaging suggesting cholangiocarcinoma. Considering a new concept of endoscopic ultrasonography, at last F. hepatica was extracted with endoscopic retrograde cholangiography